School $$ put into rainy day fund

REGION — The school committee Monday approved increasing this fiscal year's $73,061,180 school budget to a new total of $73,227,889, thanks to more money from the state than expected.

The committee unanimously accepted School Superintendent Thomas Pandiscio's recommendation to apply the extra $166,709 to the district's Reserve for Extraordinary and Unanticipated Expenditures.

If the money is not needed, it will be applied to town assessments for the next fiscal year, lowering local tax bills in the five Wachusett member towns.

In his August 7 report to the school committee, Pandiscio said he would recommend "that we make every effort to avoid spending this reserve and use it to reduce assessments next year."

He said the money was unanticipated when the district calculated its income sources for this year. The state's latest Cherry Sheet (financial report printed on red paper) reflects a $156,000 increase in regional bus aid and $10,709 increase in school choice tuition.

Pandiscio also reported that the district's health protection grant was canceled by the state that day, affecting three positions totaling $130,000. He said the grant had funded the high school nurse, a nurse liaison who filled in for nurses in the district out sick, and a medical records secretary.

"It was a recurring grant," Pandiscio said. "We were one of several district that lost the funds. … There were more communities that were recommended [for the grant] than the state wanted to fund."

He talked with legislators on Monday and advised school committee members, "It doesn't look like we will get the money back."

Pandiscio said he will have a recommendation at the next school committee meeting on where the district will shift money in the budget to fund the three positions. He said the district's is a needs-based budget, crafted not on what was spent last year in various accounts, but on what the principals request for each building's discretionary budget based on the particular needs of that school.

He said discretionary spending on instructional support has been paramount to preserving class sizes and supporting the district's literacy initiative.